The present invention relates to a press-contacting connection structure of an electric wire used in the case of connecting loose electric wires to a press-contact terminal provided in an electric wire connection target member by press-contacting.
A method for using a press-contact terminal is widely known as a method for connecting a coated electric wire (hereinafter simply called an electric wire) in which a core wire is covered with an insulating coating to equipment (a connection target member) such as an illuminating apparatus. In this method, the press-contact terminal is attached to a housing of the equipment and the electric wire is press-contacted to a press-contact blade of this press-contact terminal. Also, a method for constructing a press-contact connector by attaching the press-contact terminal to a connector housing and press-contacting the electric wire to the press-contact blade of this press-contact terminal is widely performed.
When a distal end of the electric wire is connected to such a press-contact terminal by press-contacting, processing of the distal end of the electric wire becomes a problem. When an extra length from a press-contact place to the distal end of the electric wire with respect to the press-contact blade is too short, the electric wire may come out of the press-contact terminal when a strong tensile force acts on the electric wire. Hence, a proper extra length is left in the distal end of the electric wire but when the extra length portion is left in a free state, the mutual core wires may be short-circuited if the core wires should protrude from the cut ends of the electric wires.
In this respect, Patent Document 1 shows a distal end processing structure of an electric wire constructed so that sufficient strength with respect to a tensile load can be obtained while preventing a leak in the cut end of the electric wire by folding back an extra length portion of a distal end of a flat electric wire extending from a cover along an outer surface of the cover and together binding the extra length portion with the extra length portion stacked on the proximal side of the flat electric wire. That is, in this distal end processing structure, a press-contact portion capable of adjusting a distance between each of the insulated conductors in a width direction is formed in the end of the flat electric wire by cutting an insulated joint of a predetermined range excluding the distal end along a longitudinal direction. Also, a press-contact connector is constructed of a connector housing to which a press-contact terminal is attached, and the cover attached to the connector housing so as to cover the press-contact portion with respect to the press-contact terminal. Then, after the press-contact portion is press-contacted to a press-contact blade of the press-contact terminal, the end of the flat electric wire is folded back along the outer surface of the cover and is stacked on the flat electric wire of the proximal side and in that state, the stacked portion is bound with a binding material from the outside so as to include a cut surface of the distal end.    [Patent Document 1] JP-A-2004-165055